With a new name being touted almost weekly, it seems as if Finland has more metal bands per square mile than anywhere else on the planet. That said, there’s always room for more, and today, Obscure Fate release their debut single ‘Age of Delusion’, a solid sounding number, bringing together elements of 80s melodic metal, light goth overtones and melodic death metal aspects.
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SUPER GLUE ANXIETY – First Row Seats
When a band advertises themselves as crossing genres, their reasoning and chosen styles can sometimes appear quite obvious. The world has seen a vast amount of rap metal and ska punk blends. The marriage between country and rock is a hugely natural one, and also the decision to give folk a bit more muscle with the assistance of indie and rock often works really smoothly. What if a band decided to chuck a load of different styles together without any thought to how naturally they would work together? Chances are, you’d discover a musical landscape like the one inhabited by Finnish musicians Super Glue Anxiety – a band who aren’t easing anyone into a world of weird gradually, but choosing to hit their audience between the ears with a cocktail of oddity on their debut album with zero regard for commercial potential.
Finnish black metallers Verilehto share new video for ‘Aarnihauta’
On November 28th, Finnish black metal band Verilehto return with their second album ‘Aarnihauta’. As part of the early promotion, they’ve issued the title cut as a digital single.
The first new music from the band in two years, ‘Aarnihauta’ is surprisingly melodic. The opening riff doesn’t confront the listener with a typical sheet of abrasive black metal noise, but comes closer to a world of melodic thrash. By adopting more of a mid tempo, the riffs have room to breathe, and in places owe more to the likes of Testament and Soufly than Emperor.
HIGHWAY QUEEN – Extendead Play EP
On their 2022 long player ‘Bitter Soul’, Finnish metallers Highway Queen very much flew the flag for a traditional approach. The album’s eight songs drew influence from a mid 80s Iron Maiden, with galloping riffs and twin lead guitars, from Michael Schenker via a very European sense of bombast, and a couple of Scandinavian hard rock rock acts from more recent times, which certainly helped their shamelessly old fashioned sound retain a pleasing sense of melody. Against their often familiar sounding riffs, vocalist Virpi Kääriäinen shared a strong vocal, and despite sometimes sounding a little buried within the band’s studio arrangements – at least on the faster numbers, the Whitesnake-esque title cut allowed for more clarity – it was obvious she had the kind of talent that would carry itself well in the live setting.
THE BABLERS – Like The First Time
Back in 1980, at a time when the power pop world was dominated by bands in skinny ties and with names like The Pop and The Look, The Bablers released their debut LP ‘What’s It All About’. The record’s stand out track ‘Imaginary Land’, with its stabbed piano motifs and infectious wordless hook, they sounded like a cross between XTC and Nick Lowe with a Scandinavian accent. ‘What Can I Do’ showed a knack for harmony vocals on something that could’ve been a Hollies deep cut from ’75, and seemingly not caring for fashion, ‘McKinley’s Birthday Party’ applied a McCartney-esque rumpty-tumpty rhythm to a pop tune that sounded at least five years out of date at the time of release. You couldn’t ever call it a perfect album, but at its best, it showed a band with spirit, and one capable of sometimes delivering a great tune, even if the vocals weren’t as sharp as the material deserved.